THE BEST BRZ/FRS COILOVERS?
 

So I'm not looking for the best coilovers lol. I just want to know what you guys think are good coilovers. I'm going to run Vossen CVT'S 19x8.5 +45. The goal of the coilovers is to get a lower height. Since Vossen wheels smallest size are 19 inches I need to drop the car a inch or two to get a good look. I'm not tracking this car, but I want a good ride. I don't want the top of the line coilovers I want best bang for your buck or great quality coils.

Welcome to the forum.

Now that that's out of the way....I'm not trying to crap on your dream, but 19" wheels (particularly a heavy cast wheel like the Vossen) will really diminish your handling. I understand the look you're after and it is visually appealing, but proceed with caution. There's a ton of information on this forum about handling, wheel options, and everything else you need to know about upgrading and getting the most out of your car - I'd really suggest that you spend some time doing research before you make your purchase.

As for coilovers, you have a ton of options...but coilovers may not be the best option for you. Aside from the ability to lower your car, why do you think coilovers are a necessity?

The best dampers are Penske.
/thread.

Yeah I have seen those wheels are a tad too big. I'm still considering a couple of other wheels. Well the main reason I want coilovers is adjustable height. I want to be able to adjust the height at all times. I also want to improve the handling of the car. Eventually, hopefully, maybe, I would like to drop a turbo or a sc in the car.

Yeah I have seen those wheels are a tad too big. I'm still considering a couple of other wheels. Well the main reason I want coilovers is adjustable height. I want to be able to adjust the height at all times. I also want to improve the handling of the car. Eventually, hopefully, maybe, I would like to drop a turbo or a sc in the car.

Got it, and I'm glad to hear that you're still shopping and doing research. Here's a great sticky thread that covers wheel fitment and shows tons of wheels on our cars:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7535

Pay particular attention to offset and weight, and fight the urge to go crazy wide - the car will generally be slower and less fun to drive.

As for solid coilovers on a budget, here's a thread from today that recommends ST Suspensions coilovers:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110568

While I don't have first hand experience with them, they are wholly owned by German giant KW Automotive and seem to be coming up frequently in threads here on the forum. Keep in mind all of the entry-level coilovers have limitations, but they seem solid and worth a look, along with various other offerings from Racecomp Engineering (also KW Automotive based) and Tein.

I hope this was helpful. Good luck and, once again, welcome to our community!

Duplicate post - moderators, please delete.

Thank you for the wishes! Last question lol. I was checking out a forum on most of the coils that are recommended and I found a thread ( http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13553 ) and the review on these coils is amazing. My question is, do you have any thoughts?

HemiGoesHam: Adjustable height all times as in dynamically like air suspension. Also not cheap option (IIRC ~ $3.5K). And you do understand, that car will need alignment done after each height change? In most cases with dynamic height change alignment is done for setting you will drive most of time and other heights are used just and only temporary, eg. if slam park or to clear some speed-bump or driveway, if "normal" is set/aligned for something stupidly low. If you care about handling, i certainly wouldn't install big heavy wheels like 19" are, that will worsen acceleration/comfort for very slight sharper turn-in. In sport, many often use smallest wheels possible that still clear brakes for weight reason. For example gazoo racing series gt86-s with 16" tws t66-f. 17" for many other cases.

P.S.
Best coilovers .. most probably out of your budget. +1 to custom Penske-s.

I'm sorry, but I have no experience with D2 Racing coilovers - I checked their site, however, and it looks like their line has changed since the post you linked to from 2012.

As other say, there really isn't a "best" coilovers out there.
It is a complete package, and the "best" coilovers I define as the best solution to your need within your budget.
And everyone have different need, so the best solution is different depending on that.

However, I would say you need to define your need a little more.

Lower height: How low?
The FR-S / BRZ suspension is actually very limited in terms of how much damper travel it has.
What that mean is if you want to be slammed to the ground, it will be different to a suspension that is designed to lower the car but not slammed.

This design difference affect ride comfort.
If you want the car very low, chances are you won't have the damper travel within the suspension for a nice ride.
So you got to figure out all that first before we can realistically recommend you.

Without knowing what you want exactly, people are just throwing up brand names.
The right suspension for your need is what you want.

Jerrick

Others have mentioned this, but I feel it needs emphasis:

1) It's a total pain to adjust the height of your coils. Like...a huge pain.

2) You should really get an alignment every time your ride height changes. Changing height will screw up your rear toe (among other things) and you'll feel all floaty and out of control. You'll also kill your tires.

There's always airlift, but that's usually only set up for two positions: (1) driving height (which is what you use for your alignment); and (2) hardparking.

No I don't want the car slammed. I just want to lower it 1-2 inches. I also want to improve handling of the car

If this is low enough for you, then the MeisterR ZetaCRD+ coilovers could do what you are asking for.

http://www.meisterr.co.uk/Pics/Post/FRS/Review1/5.jpg

Sensible springs rate (5/4 kg/mm) as well as adequate damper travel mean you can achieve a lower ride height while having good performance.
The damper valving are engineered by MeisterR in our UK workshop along with our technical partner, so they are design to give compliant ride quality as well as good traction over uneven road surfaces.

But like other said, coilovers are really design for 1 ride height.
So you can't just change the ride height all the time as alot of other things need adjusted along the way (such as alignment).

I can't say MeisterR are the "best", but certainly a contender at this price bracket.

Jerrick

If you aren't afraid to fork out a bit more cash, HKS Hipermax 4 GTs are extremely comfortable and allow ride height adjustments from 0 to -2 inches without negatively impacting suspension travel or preload and also provide a mild handling improvement over stock.

I have stance coilovers and I think they r great. Decently priced quality ride

I've tried the following -
Ast springs on stock dampers
Meister R GT1
Meister R Zeta
Tein Flex A
Moton Clubsport

From what you've said I'd recommend looking at the Tein Flex A's - they're difficult to beat at the price point.

In what way? Ride quality or the responsiveness/feedback?

Going with really big/wide wheels and cheap coilovers is generally not going to improve handling. You can get a comfy ride with properly valved dampers, but many lower end coilovers don't have that and can tend to be harsh. Too wide of wheels/tires, stretched tires, slammed ride height, and a lot of other trends that are popular in the look you're going for aren't conducive to improved handling. At least from an actual engineering stand-point. You will get plenty of people saying that their butt-dyno says otherwise, but empirically it's usually not the case.

There are a lot of factors that play into handling (wheel size, spring rates, damper settings/valving, tire size and compound). If your real goal is improved handling these are all important to take into consideration, particularly in how they relate to one another.

Jeff, just to say that what you tired with MeisterR are completely different than what we have today.

The MeisterR GT1 you had was the old design.
The current design have a completely different damper, different damper travel, and the internal piston have been completely changed.

The MeisterR Zeta-R you tired also have been replaced by the new ZetaCRD+
Again, completely different damper valving, different springs rate, different damper length, different damper stroke travel.

Basically what we have today is completely different than what you had tried before.
We continuously improve our product to make a better one.

Jerrick

What I find generally when it comes to improve handling, is improve chassis response without making the ride unbearable.
Comfort is subjective, so it is hard to put a number on it.

But generally speaking, a higher "sensible" springs rate, along with adjustable damping so you can run closer to the 50% to 70% critical damping range, is what people want.

It isn't bang on overtime, but those range is where most of the "enthusiast" community want to be at for a good fast road / daily driver / occasional track use car.
And if they want to go slightly outside that range, that is what the damping adjustment is on the damper is for.
This is why it is very difficult to tune a suspension without adjustable damping, because it is almost impossible to provide for every driver's preference without it.

Jerrick

So I just want a better ride quality. I'm going to run BBS LM 18x8 +50, Enkei RPF1 18x9.5 +38,or Enkei Kojin 18x9.5 +45. The ultimate goal is not to ride dirt nasty low. I just want to get 1 or a 2 inch drop, AND a comfortable ride quality